Spring Fever

Up Country by Nelson DeMille
Paul Brenner is no John Corey but he’s OK. Paul Brenner, retired Army criminal investigator, is sent to Vietnam to solve a murder and to come to terms with his past – two tours of duty during the Vietnam conflict – and his present. Not nearly the intrigue nor comedy of other DeMille books. I’ll give it **.

The 5th Horseman by James Patterson **

A Thousand Splendid Sons by Khaled Hosseini
Horrid, gut wrenching, beautiful. This book covers the gamut of emotions. Hosseini has done it again. In fact, as much as I loved The Kite Runner, I think this is even better. Like his first novel, this book is set in Afghanistan. Two women from different backgrounds are thrown together in a polygamist marriage. Their lives travel through the reigns of the warlords, the Communists and the Taliban’s reign of terror. It’s unthinkable and yet believable the way women were terribly mistreated and abused, imprisoned in their own homes. Hosseini’s heroic women find love and peace despite their circumstances. What a triumph. A Thousand Splendid *’s!

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Interesting novel of a family that immigrates from India to the US. While the parents work to maintain their native culture, the children struggle with their Indian and western identities. ***

The 6th Target by James Patterson **

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
I read this just prior to the slaughter at Virginia Tech, so when that terrible day occurred, I was still stinging from this book. Creepy. Picoult writes of a high school student shooter, who finally cracks after years of emotional and verbal abuse by his peers. The story deals with not only his own saga but that of his parents and one childhood friend. As a parent, this is a difficult book to read but the story is captivating and beautifully told. *****

Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane **

Love Monkey by Kyle Smith *

Latest & greatest (or not)

1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini -- recommended at our annual sales meeting by our guest speaker, Linda Bishop. If you're in sales, read it! Great insight into what motivates buyers.

2. Natural Cures: What "They" Don't Want You to Know by Kevin Trudeau -- take this one with a very large grain of Kosher sea salt. Trudeau goes on and on about how the FDA, FTC and the pharmaceutical companies are in bed together. If he didn't end every sentence with an exclamation point, he'd be a lot more believable. But despite the angry rhetoric, I was intrigued and more importantly motivated to think about what I put into my body.

3. Next by Michael Crichton -- jumps from scene to scene, subplot to subplot. If you put this book down for a day or two, you practically have to reread it to remember where the heck you are. One of my favorite authors but one of my least favorite books. Oh, it's about genetic modification of animals.

4. 4th of July by James Patterson -- part of the Women's Murder Club books, although the club pretty much sits on the sidelines in this one. Great thriller! Go Lindsay!

5. Step on a Crack by James Patterson -- sucks you in right away. Great characters and very mysterious. Ridiculous ending. What do prison guards have to do with our story?

6. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly -- loved it! Slimy defense lawyer comes of age.

7. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen -- highly recommend this book about a man who is 93 or 90, he can't remember for sure. Story goes between present day in seniors home back to his days as a young man during the depression who out of desperation for 3 sqaures and a place to sleep joins a circus. Sounds corny but it's very well done.

8. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield -- best book I've read in a long time. I wasn't sure at first I was going to like it; seemed a little dark. But once I got into it, I really didn't want to put the iPod down. It's kind of Sixth Sense-ish -- not sure if these folks are really alive or if they are ghosts. Great mystery and story.

9. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls -- crazy autobiography of a woman who grows up in the ultimate dysfunctional family. Father is pretty much a dead beat con man and they have to move from town to town as he wears out his welcome. Mother is nuts. Kids are amazing survivors.

10. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult -- touching novel of a family who has a third child to serve as a donor for the older sister who has leukemia. Finally, the donor daughter hires a lawyer to get medical emancipation. The mother is opposing counsel. Excellent book.

11. Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille -- what can I say? I'm in love with John Corey. This time he saves the world from nuclear destruction but still manages to irritate his wife in his spare time.

OK, so I'm really behind on this...

The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner ***
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brasheares ***
Cross by James Patterson **
1st to Die by James Patterson **
2nd Chance by James Patterson ***
3rd Degree by James Patterson **

Mo books

Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen ***
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt **
The Cat Who Wasn't There by Lilian Jackson Braun -*
Echo Park by Michael Connelly ****
Hundred Dollar Baby by Robert B. Park **
Short Straw by Stuart Woods *

Recent books read

What Remains, a memior by Carole Radziwill ****
The Lighthouse by P.D. James ***
The Afghan by Frederick Forsythe *
Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke ***
Judge and Jury by James Patterson and Andrew Gross ***
Lights Out Tonight by Mary Jane Clark **

on a ***** rating

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

Kate Klein is a miserable surburban mother of 3 young children who gets caught up in solving the murder of Kitty Cavanaugh, an idyllic suburbanite mother with as it turns out had a secret life. Kate, who has no life at all and can barely manage to get out the door with her kids, bumbles her way through the book and very complicated plots and subplots. As with any Jennifer Weiner book, this one is funny and entertaining.

Lifeguard by James Patterson

Like any James Patterson I've read, this is an intriguing, don't-want-to-put-it-down mystery. Lifeguard, set in South Florida, is the story of Ned Kelly, a guy who is pretty much unsuccessful at everything he tries. But when he meets a woman whom he thinks is the love of his life, it somehow manages to get much worse. Before he knows it, Ned is accused of murdering just about everyone he knows. With the help of an FBI art agent, he fights back but not before digging himself quite a hole. It's sink or swim but lucky for poor old Ned, he's a lifeguard.

Night Fall by Nelson DeMille

Based on the TWA 800 tragedy, this is another good John Corey, anti-terrorist task force agent, novel. After his wife and fellow agent, Kate, takes him to the memorial service for the 5th anniversary of the crash, Corey gets manipulated by her into researching the case. However, because the investigation is officially closed and was ruled an accident, Corey hits a few bumps in the road trying to get to the truth of the matter. Tragic beginning and end but filled with excitement in between.

Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Set in rural Kentucky in the 1950's, this wonderful book is about a young girl who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome. The unnamed disorder causes her to become an outcast when at age 10, she begins to involuntarily pop her eyes out, croak and twitch. An orphan who lives with her grandparents, Icy experiences complete abandonment when her grandparents place her in a mental institution. Rubio's writing tears your heart apart and puts it back together as Icy eventually says, "Without it (Tourette's), life would have been easier, but I would not be me." This book easily goes in my Top 10.